Appreciation for burned on handles

cavetech

cavetech

Joined
Nov 25, 2005
Messages
760
Yesterday, I burned on my first handle for a hidden tang knife. Worked extremly well and I won't be so apprehensive about it next time. The tang hole fit was super.

I have read and seen pictures of kukri kamis burning on kuk handles. Man, I have a real respect for their ability to do that. It also creates a tight fitting handle.

It takes a lot of heat to the tang and the smoke created is impressive.

Anybody else try this method?
 
Nope . I,m making a simple Seax this spring . I,ll be doing my own burning . It will proabably be a North American wood handle . I have seen some pieces of African Blackwood that are very interesting . I,m glad it worked well for you .
 
watch that wood smoke. some exotic woods (cocobolo for instance) are toxic.

REALLY good ventilation would be a must anyways.

bladite
 
thanks Bladite . I talk to guys who cut exotic wood flooring all day while kneeling over a chop saw . Ipe , Kempas , and many I had never even heard of before . No masks dust flying everywhere . I was up on the dust factor . I had not thought to include smoke in the equation .
 
I've been burning in all my tangs. Talk about a time saver. I drill three small guide holes with an undersized drill bit first. Then I just heat the tang and push it into the holes. It takes a few re-heats to get it all the way in. After I'm done I ream the burnt wood out of there with a drill bit or an awl. Then its ready for glue basically. Great method.
 
aproy1101 said:
After I'm done I ream the burnt wood out of there with a drill bit or an awl.
Click to expand...

I've experimented with burning in tangs this but I've had some concern about the bonding of the epoxy with the burnt wood. Reaming it out a bit probably gets rid of most of the char, but loosens up the fit. The tight fit is one of the advantages of this method. Any thoughts on bonding?
 
Howard Wallace said:
I've experimented with burning in tangs this but I've had some concern about the bonding of the epoxy with the burnt wood. Reaming it out a bit probably gets rid of most of the char, but loosens up the fit. The tight fit is one of the advantages of this method. Any thoughts on bonding?
Click to expand...

Howard I'm a big fan of modern adhesives. We use them a lot at work. I'm not overly concerned with the tight fit of the tang, actually a little play allows you to ajust the alignment of the blade to the handle. I nick the tang several places on the grinder, and drill a few holes in the tang to fill with epoxy, and sometimes run some hair through the holes. Really fine copper wire works too, but it has to be really fine. To me hair works perfectly, and my wife's brush is full of nice long ones. Once that thing sets up in a good slow set epoxy it aint coming out. I am, however, very careful not to leave any air bubbles in the handle. I'm going for solid epoxy.
 
aproy1101 said:
Howard I'm a big fan of modern adhesives. We use them a lot at work. I'm not overly concerned with the tight fit of the tang, actually a little play allows you to ajust the alignment of the blade to the handle. I nick the tang several places on the grinder, and drill a few holes in the tang to fill with epoxy, and sometimes run some hair through the holes. Really fine copper wire works too, but it has to be really fine. To me hair works perfectly, and my wife's brush is full of nice long ones. Once that thing sets up in a good slow set epoxy it aint coming out. I am, however, very careful not to leave any air bubbles in the handle. I'm going for solid epoxy.
Click to expand...

I also use epoxy and I understand that even the HI kamis appreciate this modern material. I use the same method you do of filing notches in the tang with a grinder. I never used human hairs though. Interesting idea.

I'm not concerned with the bond betwen the tang and the epoxy. I agree that that is a very strong bond. However, if there is a layer of char in the wood, and the epoxy bonds to that, I am not as sure of the bond between the epoxy and the wooden handle. Especially if the hole is cone shaped, I can imagine a cone of epoxy coming out of the handle, with a layer of char on it to which it had bonded.

Your reaming of the hole probably addresses this potential problem adequately.

Maybe it's only a problem in my imagination.
 
I would think the oils on hair would not bond particularly well with glue . It would act as an obstruction to slippage and so would contribute something .
 
The oils in hair come from your scalp, IIRC. I wash the hairs along with all the other parts with denatured alcohol.

I agree that a cone shape would be bad. That would count with or without charred wood. Cone shape bad.
 
aproy1101 said:
Howard I'm a big fan of modern adhesives. We use them a lot at work. I'm not overly concerned with the tight fit of the tang, actually a little play allows you to ajust the alignment of the blade to the handle. I nick the tang several places on the grinder, and drill a few holes in the tang to fill with epoxy, and sometimes run some hair through the holes. Really fine copper wire works too, but it has to be really fine. To me hair works perfectly, and my wife's brush is full of nice long ones.
Click to expand...

Funny, I'd been planning on trying running some strands of 0000 steel wool through the tang of my next hidden-tang handle repair.
 
I dislike the smell of steel wool and try not to use it if I can avoid it. I always get good results with it, but that smell. Yuk.
 
No comment mister. This is a family place. LOL.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top